At which point is my warranty void?

I recently have made the move to a Xperia S handset after using a HTC for several years, and so far, I'm quite happy. However, as a power user (and someone who wants to really control their phone), I have always gone down the route of "rooting" my devices. I'm the not the kind of person to overclock them, nor will I give them a serious run for the money: but just root them to flash custom ROMs (maybe) in the future, but mostly just to block adverts, use backup and restore and other, more complex commands.

However, on the HTC phones, once you've rooted it, you're away. With Sony, it's different. There is the bootloader that must be unlocked, and then you root it. The mere idea that Sony welcome you to unlock the bootloader shows their commitment to the developer and power user community. But, this is not simple to understand.

It's made very clear that you may lose your warranty if you unlock your device, as it's device dependant. There is no specific guidelines for the Xperia S, however.

I want to know something, and hopefully Sony (or users who are proficient in the knowledge) can help:

At which point is my warranty voided: When I unlock the bootloader, or when I root it, or at a different time?

It's not very simple for new Sony users to understand. I want to merely get Superuser permissions so that I can block adverts and the above, but it is a large and confusing risk with the warranty's vagueness.

Hopefully someone can help with an answer I can trust.

I'm certain that this will not be the last time that this question will be asked, and I'm sure it will prove beneficial to other new users and adopters.

Re: At which point is my warranty void?

Yes that is correct; whilst the warranty differs in some respects from country to country if a repair agent receives a phone with an unlocked bootloader the tools they use will tell them the firmware has been modified and the warranty is void.

As a side note, its only lunch time here in New Zealand

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Re: At which point is my warranty void?

So my thoughts on this are that you firstly don't need to unlock your bootloader to root your phone and run certain roms, use Titanium backup to remove apps/bloatware. Your phone can then be reflashed by using Sony Update Service or Flashtools/Wotanclient and it will then be back to an official firmware. This is a very grey area that if your phone went in for repair whether the service centre would be able to detect that changes had been made. With my Moderator hat on I would have to say that you need to be aware that it may void your warranty, with my Moderator hat off I have flashed my old X10 with different firmware to get the 2.3 update quicker and it was repaired under warranty absolutely fine.

However Sam is absolutely on the money with unlocked bootloader = void warranty.

Re: At which point is my warranty void?

As a new Sony user, is it possible that you could (potentially) root your phone without locking the bootloader?

WITHOUT LOCKING THE BOOTLOADER ??

i hope you mean without unlocking the bootloader

YOU cannot root until you unlock your bootloader ( at present )

As xperia S is a "just released" case, it would take time for the developers to find a way to root it without unlocking it actually there is no way to root your phone, If an xperia S user wants to root his/her device, he needs to flash a custom pre rooted rom, ( installing custom roms = bootloader unlock = warranty )

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